


Midori Sour

by ThisCatastrophe



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Drinking & Talking, Fluff, Holding Hands, Sharing Clothes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 22:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14628483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisCatastrophe/pseuds/ThisCatastrophe
Summary: In light of the postponed Kage summit, Gaara and Lee spend some time together.Requested prompt on tumblr: "Take my jacket."





	Midori Sour

The last stragglers wandered out of the bar towards their homes, swinging little parcels of takeout food bundled in cloth napkins and bits of string. Rope lights and lanterns flickered and died inside the building, leaving only streetlamps alight, and the air outside mingled with the noise of barstools being stowed and frogs calling to their mates.

In the chill night air, the Kazekage swayed out, one arm draped over the neck of a Konoha shinobi.

Hours earlier, the Kage summit had been postponed until the delegation from Kumogakure arrived in town; the Sixth Hokage took an early evening and dismissed everyone else to see the city as they pleased. Gaara would have liked to nap a little, maybe watch a sunset over the waters, but his appointed bodyguard simply wouldn’t allow that.

“Gaara, my friend! There’s a wonderful new bar in the south ward, and it serves a drink I think you’ll like! And a friend of mine is playing music tonight, so let’s go!” said Lee, hours ago, eyes sparkling like so many diamonds.

Sure, the other Kages gave him strange looks, and Tenten tried to convince him to do anything but drag his charge to a bar on a weekday, but Gaara found that sort of enthusiasm infectious. He dismissed Kankuro for the evening, deposited his formal robes in his ambassadorial apartments and joined Lee for the walk across town.

He’d never been one to drink; alcohol was always much more his brother’s hobby. It was too bitter, too heavy. It made his stomach twist the same way it did when he thought about his childhood. But with Lee, somehow those effects weren’t an issue. True to his claims, Lee presented him with the only cocktail Gaara had ever enjoyed--a midori sour, was it? 

The taste of melon and simple syrup clung heavy to his tongue, and he, newly uninhibited, clung to Lee’s arm as they swayed gently down the avenue.

Though, he’d never anticipated how cold Konoha could get at night. His heart still felt warm, as it always did when Lee was near, but his clothes did nothing to block the piercing wind, nothing like the hot breezes in Suna. Gaara felt the fine hairs on his arms stand on end and tried to keep his teeth from chattering.

A warm, padded cloth settled over his shoulders. Above him, Lee smiled with a hazy, gin-steeped look, clumsy fingers tracing rumpled red hair. “You looked cold, Gaara,” he commented. “Take my flak jacket!”

Gaara laughed, a hand over his mouth to cover the red that seeped into his skin. Why was laughter coming so easily? Was it always so easy to laugh near Lee, or was it the midori sour? “I’m not sure it’s going to keep me warm,” he replied, but pulled the jacket closer all the same.

Sometime around the corner of Fifth and Senju Court, Lee’s hand snuck into Gaara’s palm, where it remained for the rest of the night.


End file.
